“Search me,” shrugged Don. “There must be an outlet somewhere.”
Jim leaned over the side of the wreck. “Why, sure, there it is. The whole side of this boat is one big hole. While we were battering the door down they just walked out the hole and got aboard their boat.”
“That’s about it,” agreed the captain, looking over the side. “They had that opening in case they were ever bottled up in the place. Well, no use crying over things as they stand, but I am sorry I’m such a blundering windjammer.”
“Oh, never mind that,” said Don, hastily. “All I hope is that they didn’t take Terry with them, provided they ever had him. Let’s take a look through this place.”
They descended into the wreck and readily found their way into the room lately occupied by the men. It was evident that they had left in a hurry, for a pack of cards was scattered over the table and an oil lamp burned in a bracket. A fire burned in an iron stove in the galley near the bunk room, and a few articles of clothing were hanging on a line near the stove. In a smaller room three bunks were ready for occupancy, with the covers turned back, and in a somewhat better room, nearby, evidently occupied by the old lady, a comb and brush stood on a rough box. There was no sign of any stolen articles anywhere, and they concluded that any such things were stored on the cruiser.
“Now, we’ll see how those boys got out,” announced the captain. Guided by his flashlight they went back to the main hold and walked in between the timbers. Before they had gone very far they found water on the floor of the bunk room and then they arrived at the opening itself. It was a great, gaping hole which the storm had beaten in the side of the ship, and because the hull was already resting on the bottom of the ocean it had not done any great damage. The hole was big enough to permit the men to pass out in safety to their cruiser, and a heavy plank had been placed from the floor to the boat. Don stepped forward but the captain drew him back.
“No use in going any further,” he cautioned. “We don’t know where this floor ends and you might suddenly fall right in.” He flashed the light all around on the timbers, and the ray of light showed them to be covered with moss and green scum. “This craft has been under water during every good storm,” the captain commented. “They wouldn’t dare to use it during the stormy season, because they might be caught like rats in a trap if the sea came up. Maybe they just stumbled across it, or maybe they have been using it right along. I’d say that they had been doing that, judging by the way the blankets are on the bunks.”
“What are we going to do now?” inquired Jim. “If Terry was aboard they have taken him with them. I guess there is no use in looking further.”
But Captain Blow shook his head. “We’ve got some more investigating to do,” he announced. “Don’t forget that ghost. You know, we thought at first that those fellows had rigged that thing for our benefit, but it must have been rigged for their benefit. It looked mighty spooky the way it sank down in that deck, but there is some every day explanation to it, and we’ve got to find out what it was.”
“But we’ve been over the whole ship,” protested Don.